Stuttgart City Council gets update on theft arrests

Stuttgart Police Department Assistant Chief Steven Bobo announced 14 individuals have been arrested or have pending charges filed against them. All of the arrests are in connection with the recent rash of thefts in Stuttgart's city limits. The information had not been released prior to Tuesday night's Stuttgart City Council meeting.

Two Stuttgart residents followed procedure to speak to council members — requesting to be added to Tuesday's agenda — however, before they spoke Stuttgart Mayor Marianne Maynard allowed Stuttgart City Council member Norma Strabala to speak first.

"I'm going to check with the council to see if they have any concerns and then we are going to check with the citizens that have concerns," Maynard said.

"I think the citizens of Stuttgart need to tell us what we need to be doing," Strabala began. "But I also feel that it is my responsibility as a city council member to support, not only the citizens, but also our city employees and other city officials."

She went on to say that "bad mouthing" of the city's police department has become an issue within Stuttgart.

"Sometimes the things we say can be taken out of context and (are) not necessarily what we said. After saying that I would like to give Bobo — I don't know if he wants to or not — the opportunity to say what he meant to say or did say. Because we all know sometimes it can be twisted," Strabala said.

Bobo came prepared with a release and announced that 14 individuals have either been arrested or charged, going on to state that one of the suspects has fled to California at this time, while another is now dead.

The prepared information was then given to both the Stuttgart Daily Leader along with a Country 97.3 (KWAK) representative.

The SPD Criminal Investigation Division has filed two commercial burglary warrants, three counts of theft of property under $1,000, one count of criminal attempt to commit theft of property, one count of possession of a defaced firearm, seven counts of theft of property over $1,000, five counts of residential burglary, 10 counts of breaking and entering into vehicles, one count of arson, three counts of aggravated assault on police officers, one count of battery in the second degree, one count of theft by receiving, one count of aggravated robbery and one count of battery in the first degree.

As of press time, names had not been released in the arrests. Also, Bobo said, some cases are still pending due to crime lab results.

"Recently Channel 11 (KTHV) came down and they wanted to do a story on these 44 break-ins, residential burglaries that we have had," Bobo explained to a packed audience. "We haven't had 44 residential burglaries, but that is the number they pulled from somewhere. OK, I went through and spoke with them for approximately 30 minutes — they pulled 35 seconds of that video and played it. They played the 35 seconds that they wanted somebody to hear. At no time, like some people are going around saying and it was even in the paper that somebody wrote, that it was no big deal. It has never been said that it is no big deal. Every break-in in this community is a big deal and it's a big deal to us. It is something that we work on on a daily basis. If they would have continued to play everything that was there you would have heard me say 'Not all these break-ins are legitimate break-ins' OK."

One example he gave was talking about rent-to-own centers. While in contract with some rent-to-own centers, if the merchandise is stolen then the bill or contract will be voided. This is done in some circumstances with a police report, he explained.

"I'm going to pick my TV up and carry it next door, ask if you mind keeping this for a little bit...next thing we know we are getting a call for a door broke in," Bobo said.

The second example came from people with prescription medications. Some people, after taking too many or abusing their medications, will file a police report saying they have been stolen.

"It's not always the truth," Bobo said.

The third example is working with an uncooperative community. Bobo said a Stuttgart resident recently called to report a residential burglary at her home.

"The officer went over there and had to listen to her bicker and berate him for however long she wanted to and he took it. He took that and then asked 'do you have any idea who might have done this?' Bobo said.

"'Yeah, I know who done it'...that was her exact words...but (she) didn't want to get anyone in trouble," he continued.

"That is the mentality of this town. And if you (came) here tonight to belittle us then shame on you. That is all I have to say, because if you want to get involved you should have got involved a long time ago when we realized we don't have enough people to cover this whole town," he said.

Based off the number of water meters in Stuttgart, Bobo stated that if someone wants every residence in this town checked, it would require checking 21 places per minute.

"If someone has a way for our officers to check 21 houses in a minute let me know, because we will do. The problem is we have no cooperation. No body wants to stand up and say 'I saw this,'" Bobo said.

He continued, "I would never get on TV and say a break-in is no big deal. OK. This is my home, this is where I live, this is where my family is (and) this is important to me. I work anytime I am needed, and I will continue to work anytime I'm needed. If anyone has a problem with the way I work then you need to come see me, we can talk about it. It's no problem, but don't judge me on 35 seconds by a reporter that wants to boost their name."

Glenn Larson, a Stuttgart resident and Emanuel Lutheran Church pastor, was scheduled on the agenda to speak about the break-ins. He was given a chance later in the meeting to speak.

He asked if there was a plan in place to deal with the residential break-ins, but told the audience and council that he had decided to ask the remainder of his questions privately.

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